How Far We'll Go
by whoeverIamloves
Summary: Kiba is killed in an ambush, and Sakura, Hinata, Naruto, and Kakashi show up with Akamaru for back-up. They're too late, but Sakura has a variation of Elder Chiyo's technique that she wants to try. Rated for character death and some language.


This is a little scene that 's been in my head for a while now, so I thought I'd finally get it done instead of focusing on my homework. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

There's a few different pairings you could read into this, but there's not really any specific ones I had in mind while writing it. Therefore, enjoy it however you choose to read it. :)

* * *

Akamaru nudged his master's lifeless shoulder. He barked at him, and still Kiba didn't stir. The only sound was the rustle of the leaves overhead and the wind through the grass.

Hinata, Naruto, and Kakashi all landed smoothly on the ground a respectful distance away. Sakura landed on the other side of Kiba from Akamaru, and her fingers were instantly on his pulse point.

"We…we're…too late."

Instantly Hinata was by her side.

"Kiba-kun?" Her voice was wobbly.

Sakura shook her head as the others looked on in silence. Her voice came out choked.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. We're too late…he's…already…" she swallowed, trying to steady her voice, "he's already…cold."

Akamaru lay down and rested his head on his master's chest, whimpering mournfully.

All four of the summoned back-up shinobi bowed their heads. Hinata and Sakura had tears in their eyes, though Sakura was making more of an effort to be strong for the timid Huuga girl. Hinata bent over her friend and teammate –former teammate, now- and started to weep for him.

"Kiba-kun…I'm sorry, Kiba-kun! If we'd gotten here faster…"

Sakura rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. The two males stayed respectfully in their places, with Kakashi holding Naruto by the shoulder to keep him from charging into the aching situation before them.

"Hinata, we came as fast as we could," Sakura whispered to her. Kakashi spoke up from behind them, not moving from his kneeling position on the ground.

"She's right, Hinata." He paused for a moment to choose his words carefully. "We were probably too late before we even started traveling."

Two hours ago, a frantic Akamaru had interrupted a group training session. None could understand what he was saying, but it was exceedingly clear that the large white dog had come to summon them and would not accept no for an answer. Kakashi had summoned Pakkun during the intense run to the place where Akamaru had parted from his master, and the little pug had interpreted the larger dog's whines and whimpers.

Kiba and Akamaru had been out for a run when they had been ambushed. The two of them had fought hard, but they were outnumbered. Kiba took one hit from something outside his furry partner's line of vision, and he didn't recognize the smell of it either.

Kakashi spoke softly, so as not to disturb Hinata's grief over her friend.

"Sakura…"

She shook the tears from her eyes, a look of sad, businesslike resolve coming over her features instead.

"I know. I have to…pronounce."

Hinata didn't move, but she didn't protest either. She could feel the clamminess of her teammate's skin, and her pale eyes could see the completely empty chakra system.

Sakura's hand took on a very faint green glow, and she placed it over Kiba's abdomen. She ignored the strained sound of her voice as she officially announced the result of her quick temperature check.

"Time of death…three o'clock p.m."

Naruto finally spoke for the first time.

"But how?"

Akamaru whined his agreement, turning his big brown eyes on Sakura without lifting his head. Sakura glanced back at Naruto and Kakashi let go of his shoulder. He walked up to stand beside his teammate, looking down at his friend's body with confusion in his sad blue eyes. Kakashi stood up.

"He doesn't look hurt."

Sakura's hand drifted to the only visible injury on Kiba's body. There was a small blood stain on his jacket, a couple of inches above his left hip. She lifted the hem of the jacket to get a look at the wound.

There was a round hole in the skin that looked about the size of a pencil, and the edges of it were rough. Whatever had made it was long gone.

"I've never seen anything like this before. Hinata…?"

She sniffled.

"Hmm?"

"Can you see any…poison?"

"Byakugan!"

She surveyed her teammate's body for several seconds, then allowed her eyes to go back to their normal state. "There's nothing. Only a little damage to his chakra circulatory system around…that." She pointed to the wound above his hip, and Sakura frowned.

"But that wound isn't big enough to do that kind of damage. I wonder what…?" She was talking mostly to herself, but Kakashi answered as he walked up to stand with them.

"There's a clan of scorpion-users in the Stone Country. Their scorpions make a hole very similar to that, and then they suck out the victim's chakra."

"Scorpions?"

"Hn."

Naruto spoke up again.

"Kakashi-sensei, how do you know about those?"

Kakashi tilted his head to the side a little, apparently debating whether or not to answer. After several seconds he wordlessly lifted his hand to roll up his right sleeve a couple of inches. He turned the inside of his wrist so that the three younger ninjas could see the round scar there. All six eyes widened.

"Oh."

Kakashi returned his sleeve to its normal position.

"Sakura-chan, is that what happened to Kiba?"

"I…don't know."

Akamaru lifted his head and looked at her with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen, and something in her stomach turned. She reached out to pet his head.

"You really want to know, don't you boy?"

He barked and she sighed.

"Okay." She formed a seal and her hands started to glow light green again. All the others watched in silence as she let her hands work their way down Kiba's body, starting at his head and hovering an inch away from him as they slowly drifted down his neck, chest, stomach, hips, and legs. Finally the green glow dissipated and she wiped her eyes.

"Cause of death…chakra depletion. It looks like you were right, Kakashi-sensei."

"Let's go after them! I'll beat them up so bad, they won't even know-" Akamaru was on his feet and growling, ready to join Naruto's revenge party. Kakashi interrupted.

"No."

"But-"

"No, Naruto. They're long gone by now, and it's too dangerous." He continued in a softer voice. "Besides. The family may want that mission."

Hinata's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. Sakura's eyes had taken on a far-away thoughtful glaze, and now she spoke softly.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

He looked at her.

"Hm?"

"Do you remember…Chiyo-baasama?"

He raised his visible eyebrow.

"Sakura, you're not using that technique."

She shook her head quickly.

"No, that's not quite what I had in mind."

"No?"

"I was thinking more about a variation of it."

Hinata's eyes widened. She remembered what the elderly sand kunoichi had done, giving her life to restore Gaara's after his chakra had been completely drained by the Akatsuki.

"He wouldn't let you."

All eyes turned to Hinata.

"Kiba-kun…he'd never let anyone trade their life for his. He would say no."

Sakura shook her head.

"I've been thinking, and I think that technique cost Chiyo-baasama her life because she hadn't perfected it."

Kakashi crossed his arms.

"Go on."

Sakura took a deep breath.

"She didn't have us."

Naruto shook his head.

"Yes she did. We were all right there, and I even helped!"

"I know. But she didn't have the Byakugan to help her, and she didn't have enough chakra to do it on her own. We do."

"So what's your plan?" Kakashi rarely got curious, but…this was one of those rare times. She had his full attention.

"I can do the technique. I've been thinking about since that incident, and I'm pretty sure I know what she did."

"We're trying _not_ to do what she did, remember?"

Sakura nodded.

"You see, I have a theory that Chiyo-baasama's technique was too broad. She was focusing her chakra through fabric and skin, and that cost her a whole lot of efficiency."

Kakashi nodded his understanding so far, and Hinata, Naruto, and Akamaru just continued to listen to her raptly.

"I plan to focus the chakra much more precisely. That's where Hinata comes in." She looked at the Huuga. "I'll need you to show me the tenketsu for increasing chakra flow." Hinata swallowed and nodded. Kakashi pointed out the next problem.

"But you still won't have enough chakra."

"I know. I'll go as far as I can on my own, and then I'll need Naruto to help me the same way he helped with Gaara, since he has so much extra chakra."

"Is it really possible, Sakura-san?" Hinata's voice sounded ready to crack any moment. It crossed Sakura's mind that if this didn't work, she'd feel really awful for giving them false hope. She shook her head.

"I don't know. There's a good chance that it won't work, but…"

Naruto broke in with a totally confident voice.

"If there's even a tiny chance, we have to try! Sakura-chan's the best, so it'll definitely work!"

Hinata blushed slightly and nodded.

"Hai."

All eyes turned to Kakashi, since he had the final say in whether or not to attempt this technique. After several long, tense moments he finally spoke.

"Alright, it's worth a try. But." He locked his eye on Sakura. "Do not, under any circumstances, push yourself too far. Understood?"

Her green eyes took on a look of determination.

"Hai!"

"I'll be watching you," he tapped his haite-ate covering the Sharingan, "and if it gets dangerous, I'm pulling you out. Period."

"Hai."

"What do you need?"

Sakura snapped into gear. She turned first to Hinata.

"Open his shirt."

She nodded and started to unfasten his jacket, and Sakura turned to Naruto.

"You stay close by. Sit next to Hinata, and I'll tell you when I'm ready for you."

Akamaru whined an inquiry about his role, and Sakura gave him a placating half-smile.

"There's not much you can do, boy." She looked at Kakashi, who picked up on her cue. He walked around Kiba to kneel a few feet away, where he could reach Sakura but Akamaru would be out of the way. He stretched out his hand toward the dog.

"Come here, Akamaru. We're going to watch."

The large dog glanced back and forth reluctantly between his master's body and Kakashi, finally obeying and moving over to sit in front of Kakashi, who raised one hand to scratch the dog's head comfortingly and the other, after raising his haite-ate, to rest on Akamaru's chest.

Once Kakashi was holding Akamaru out of the way, Sakura turned her attention back to the task at hand.

Hinata had opened his jacket and moved it out of the way, but she looked uncertain about opening his shirt since it was a pullover and not a button-up or zippered type.

Sakura drew a kunai out of her holster and Hinata dropped her hands, watching nervously. The medic dipped it under his shirt and netted undershirt and sliced them open in one fluid motion.

Akamaru twitched under Kakashi's friendly hands. The white-haired ninja started talking to him in a low voice, saying comforting little things to keep him calm while keeping his eyes fixed on Sakura.

"Hinata, guide my hands so that my fingertips are resting on the most vital tenketsu."

"Hai." She nodded, then whispered 'byakugan!' and when the veins popped on either side of her eyes, she gingerly took Sakura's wrists and used them to place her hands on Kiba's chest and abdomen, with her fingertips resting exactly on the midline of his cold torso.

"There."

Sakura nodded, and Hinata pulled her hands back into her lap. A bright green glow engulfed her hands, and she quickly focused it into tight little needles of energy at her fingertips. For several moments the silence in the woods stretched out, getting heavier and more intense with each passing moment.

Akamaru whimpered. The leaves rustled. Kakashi continued to speak gently to Kiba's furry best friend.

The green light at Sakura's fingertips faded a little, and she spoke without looking up.

"Naruto."

He laid his hands on top of hers, and Hinata nibbled on a fingernail.

The glow got bright again, and for several more moments, the only sound was the wind in the trees and Kakashi's quiet voice.

Sakura frowned. It wasn't going fast enough. At this rate…

"Naruto, focus your chakra to your hands."

He obeyed, and the brightness of the glow doubled. Sakura's frown deepened in her concentration as she struggled to focus the chakra into their classmate's body.

Hinata's eyes, still activated, were trained on Kiba's chest. There was a decent amount of chakra in his system now, so shouldn't his heart start to beat soon?

"Hinata, how are we?"

"Why isn't his heart beating yet? There's enough chakra now…"

Kakashi spoke up, still scratching Akamaru behind the ears.

"When Chiyo-baasama did it, there was a threshold."

Sakura nodded, and Kakashi noticed she was sweating.

"We haven't cleared it yet."

"Sakura, remember what I said. You're getting close to your limit."

"Just a little more!" She glanced up at Hinata, being careful to maintain her concentration as she did. "Hinata…his heart. Are one of these tenketsu connected directly to his heart?"

Hinata shook her head.

"No, those are the vital points for the chakra system."

"Move me to his heart and lungs."

"Hai." Hinata reached out toward Sakura's hands. She moved the right one to rest on his left pectoral muscle with the fingertips resting in the hollow between his chest and shoulder, and her left hand to rest between his ribs, directly below his sternum.

After several more tense seconds, Kakashi opened his mouth to call an end to the attempt. Naruto and Sakura were both getting dangerously low on chakra, and he was not willing to sacrifice the living for the dead. He never got the chance to speak, though, because a shudder ran through Kiba's body.

Sakura gasped and pulled her hands away, and Naruto followed suit. Kiba's eyes opened for a split second, then closed again.

"Kiba-kun!?" Hinata's voice was an enthusiastic whisper, as if she was afraid to believe that they had really succeeded. His bare chest rose and fell a couple of times in shallow, rapid breaths.

Akakmaru strained hopefully against Kakashi, who tightened his grip and whispered something to the effect of 'whoa, boy, hold on a minute' to the pony-sized animal.

Sakura shifted so that she was sitting beside Kiba's head and placed her fingers on his pulse point once more. His heart was racing, but it was strong. Relief washed through her and threatened to leak from her eyes.

"Kiba?"

His face twisted in discomfort as he whispered through his shallow panting.

"…it's fucking cold…"

At the sound of his master's voice, Akamaru jumped from Kakashi's grasp to inspect for himself, and when he saw that Kiba really was breathing, the overgrown puppy set to licking his face with unmatched fervor.

"Akamaru…"

Sakura spoke in a tired voice.

"Akamaru, warm him up."

Akamaru barked happily and settled his body over the young man's, being careful not to squash him in the process.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata grabbed his icy hand and started to rub some warmth back into it.

"Hinata? What…?"

He was slowly regaining consciousness, and as his memories started peiceing themselves back together he forced his eyes to open and then to focus on the people surrounding him. Weakly, he lifted his other hand and buried it in his dog's fur.

"What…how?"

Kakashi answered the question before anyone else had a chance to say something stupid this early in the game.

"Akamaru came and recruited us for back-up."

"Kiba, you shouldn't try to talk yet. You need to rest."

The revived young man ignored Sakura's statement.

"We were…I thought…two hours…how long was I out?" His eyes closed again, and everyone raised their eyebrows. Naruto started to exclaim something, but Hinata clapped a hand over his mouth. Sakura answered, shaking her head.

"Too long."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, you need to rest and so do I."

Sakura stretched out on the ground where she had been sitting, and Akamaru leaned his head over to lick her cheek fondly as she passed out.

Naruto escaped from Hinata's hand upon seeing his pink-haired teammate pass out.

"Sakura-chan!"

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he looked up to find Kakashi standing beside him and regarding Sakura's sleeping form with his Sharingan.

"She'll be fine. She just wore herself out." He glanced at the sleeping Kiba with Akamaru as a blanket, then at Hinata's wide eyes and tears of happiness. He let go of Naruto's shoulder. "Go find some firewood, Naruto. Hinata, scout for any lingering enemies. It's going to be dark soon and these two are in no condition to travel yet. We'll rest here for a couple of hours, then head back to Konoha."

* * *

So what do you think? This is part one of two. Hopefully I'll get second part up soon -maybe I'll even get it written tonight if I finish my homework in time.

Pretty please, leave me a review! :)


End file.
